Weapon mount

ABSTRACT

A mount system including a tray mountable to a port and a table translatable with respect to the tray. A mounting station is positioned on the table. There is a support for the tray. A drive mechanism translates the table to alternately conceal the mounting station within the port and to deploy the mounting station through the port.

RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/839,951, filed Aug. 24, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This subject invention relates to mounting systems for weapons andnon-lethal devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A large weapon such as a 50 caliber machine gun is often mounted in aweapon mounting station on a tripod. An example of a weapon mountingstation is a remote operated small arms mount (ROSAM). Moving such alarge and heavy weapon from a concealed position within a port (awindow, for example) to a deployed position through the port would bedifficult. The tripod would have to be repositioned from a locationdistant from the port to a location proximate the port. Given that a 50caliber machine gun mounted to a ROSAM style weapon mounting station canweigh in excess of 450 lbs, the repositioning effort between a concealedand deployed position would be cumbersome and time consuming. And, evenafter the weapon is repositioned so the barrel of the weapon is nowoutside the port, its spatial coverage may be limited.

There is often a need to keep a weapon concealed and/or protected untilits use is required. In but one example, it is desirable that anyweapons associated with an embassy or cruise ship not be viewable frompublic spaces. The idea is a non-threatening posture while maintainingprotective capability. In another example, it is desirable that certainweapons on a naval or coast guard vessel be kept both protected andconcealed until needed. Often, the mere act of deploying a concealedweapon is sufficient to prevent an act of violence. Known weapon mountsdo not lend themselves to concealment and then rapid and easydeployment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new moreversatile weapon mount.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich deploys the weapon easily and quickly.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich increases the coverage of the weapon.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich is fairly simple in design and is easy to use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich can include an existing tripod and an existing weapon station suchas a ROSAM.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich is stable and adequately supports the weapon in both the concealedmode and the deployed mode and while firing.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich can be set up in different locations and without adverselyaffecting the port to which it is being deployed from.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich can be easily tailored for different installations.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich is reliable even in corrosive and rugged environments.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich meets dynamic loading and support accuracy requirements.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a weapon mountwhich can be engineered to deploy automatically especially in caseswhere sensors are used to detect potential threats.

The subject invention results from the realization that a versatileweapon mount which deploys a situation dependant weapon easily andquickly and which provides full weapon coverage in a stable manner iseffected by a tray mountable to a port and supported by tripod incombination with a table translatable with respect to the tray toalternately conceal the weapon within the port to provide protectionand/or a non-threatening posture and which then deploys the weaponthrough the port thus maintaining protective capability.

The subject invention, however, in other embodiments, need not achieveall these objectives and the claims hereof should not be limited tostructures or methods capable of achieving these objectives.

The subject invention features a mount system with a tray mountable to aport and a table translatable with respect to the tray. The mountingstation is mounted to the table. There is a support for the tray. Adrive mechanism translates the table to alternately conceal the mountingstation within the port and to deploy the mounting station through theport.

In one example the tray includes at least one rail and the table rideson the rail. There may be a pair of spaced rails and the table mayinclude shoes which engage the rails. One drive mechanism includes athreaded rod extending along the tray. The underside of the tableincludes a nut engaging the threaded rod. This mount system includes ahandle for rotating the threaded rod.

The mounting station may include a remote operated small arms mount. Thesupport may include a tripod and a spacer structure between the tripodand the tray. There is typically at least one bracket for mounting thetray to a sill of the port. There is also typically a locking mechanismfor fixing the table with respect to the tray in the deployed position.One locking mechanism includes a pin in the table releasably received ina channel in the tray. There may also be a universal mount between themounting station and the table. One universal mount includes a post anda pin and the table then includes a receiver socket for the post and aslot for the pin.

One mount system in accordance with the subject invention includes atray mountable to a port and including at least one rail, a tablemounted to translate along the rail, a mounting station on the table, asupport for the tray, a bracket for mounting the tray to a sill of theport, a drive mechanism for translating the table along the rail toalternately conceal the mounting station within the port and to deploythe mounting station through the port, and a locking mechanism forreleasably locking the table with respect to the tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled inthe art from the following description of a preferred embodiment and theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing a typical prior artweapon mount;

FIG. 2 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing the limited spatialcoverage associated with the prior art weapon mount shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing, in one example,the primary components associated with a weapon mount in accordance withthe subject invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing the increasedspatial coverage provided by the weapon mount of in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic three-dimensional partial view showing the tray ofthe weapon mount shown in FIG. 3 supported on the sill of a port;

FIG. 6 is a schematic three-dimensional partial view of the weapon mountshown in FIG. 3 including brackets for mounting the tray thereof to thesill of the port;

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the bracket of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic three-dimensional front view of the weapon mountshown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a schematic three-dimensional side view of the weapon mountshown in FIG. 3 with the weapon aimed 90° with respect to the port;

FIG. 10 is a schematic three-dimensional view of the weapon mount shownin FIG. 3 with an alternative configuration of a sill bracket;

FIG. 11 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing one version of adrive mechanism for the weapon mount of the subject invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing the underside ofthe sliding table of the weapon mount shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a schematic three-dimensional view showing the location of auniversal mount of a weapon mount in accordance with the subjectinvention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic three-dimensional front view showing theuniversal mount of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a schematic three-dimensional top view of the sliding tableshown in FIGS. 11-13;

FIG. 16 is a schematic three-dimensional end view showing an example ofa mechanism for locking the sliding table shown in FIG. 15 to the weaponmount tray; and

FIG. 17 is a schematic three-dimensional partial view of a weapon mountin accordance with the subject invention showing how the bracket isconnected to the tripod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aside from the preferred embodiment or embodiments disclosed below, thisinvention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orbeing carried out in various ways. Thus, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangements of components set forth in thefollowing description or illustrated in the drawings. If only oneembodiment is described herein, the claims hereof are not to be limitedto that embodiment. Moreover, the claims hereof are not to be readrestrictively unless there is clear and convincing evidence manifestinga certain exclusion, restriction, or disclaimer.

FIG. 1 shows 50 caliber weapon 10 within weapon mounting station 12supported by tripod 14 in accordance with the prior art. Tripod 14positions weapon 10 with respect to port 16. Port 16 may be a window inan embassy, a cruise whip, or a naval or coast guard vessel.

As described in the Background section above, it is difficult to providea non-threatening posture while maintaining protective capability inaccordance with such prior art weapon mounting systems. Tripod 14 is noteasily or quickly moved. Often, tripod 14 is bolted to the deck of theship. Typically, tripod 14 is not positioned sufficiently rearwardly ofport 16 to completely conceal and/or protect weapon 10 and weaponmounting station 12. Even were tripod 14 brought as close as possible toport 16 and weapon 10 deployed as shown in FIG. 2, coverage is limitedto a total yaw angle of 17°. Any repositioning effort of tripod 14 wouldbe cumbersome and time consuming.

In one example, the new weapon mount 20, FIG. 3 of the subject inventionpreferably includes tray 22 mountable with respect to port 16. Table 24is translatable within tray 22 in the direction shown by arrow 26. Tray22 is supported on deck or floor 24 preferably by prior art tripod 14and new spacer bracket structure 30. A drive mechanism including drivewheel 32 translates table 24 to conceal weapon mounting station 12mounted to table 24 within the port to provide a non-threateningposture. When desired, however, weapon 10 and weapon mounting station 12are deployed through port 16 by turning drive wheel 32 either manuallyor automatically which drives table 24 forward. When concealment,protection, and/or servicing of weapon 10 is then desired, drive wheel32 is turned in the opposite direction to drive table 24 rearwardly. Inthe deployed position shown in FIG. 4, weapon 10 coverage includes atotal yaw angle of 180°.

As shown in FIGS. 5-10, tray 22 typically rests on sill 40 of the portand bracket 42, FIG. 6 may be used to fix tray 22 in place on sill 40.An alternative bracket design is shown at 42′ in FIG. 10. Bracketportion 44 is fixed to tray side rail 46 and bracket portion 48 clampsbracket portion 44 to sill 40. By driving table 24 fully forward asshown in FIG. 9, weapon mounting station 12 is fully outside of the portfor 180° yaw angle weapon coverage.

The result in any embodiment is a more versatile weapon mount whichdeploys a weapon easily and quickly and in a way such that the coverageof the weapon is increased. The weapon mount is relatively simple indesign and easy to use. Existing components like tripod 14, FIG. 3 and aROSAM style weapon station mount 12 can be fully utilized reducing thecost of the system. The weapon mount is stable and adequately supportsthe weapon in both the concealed mode and in the deployed mode whilefiring. The weapon mount can be set up in different locations andtypically without adversely affecting the port to which it is mounted.By adjusting in configuration and dimensions of spacer structure 30,FIG. 6, the weapon mount can be easily tailored for differentinstallations (e.g., ports or windows of different heights andconfigurations). The weapon mount is reliable even in corrosive andrugged environments and adequately meets dynamic loading and supportaccuracy requirements. Bracket portion 42′, FIG. 10 can be padded on thebottom with heavy duty rubber to minimize sill damage. Bracket portion42′ reduces torsion that tripod 14 would otherwise have to absorb. Thepreferred embodiment of spacer structure 30 is a weight optimized framestructure of welded construction as shown. The height of spacerstructure 30 can be varied for different port configurations. Spacerstructure 30 typically bolts to prior art tripod mount 14 and to tray22.

A nylon slide allows the tray to be slid out the window and the rubbersection drops into an installed position. Preferably, the naturalfrequency of the weapon mount is proximate 30 Hz to provide sufficientstiffness for vertical deflection and torsion.

FIGS. 11-12 show an example of table 24 mounted to slide on rails 50 aand 50 b via shoes 52 a-52 d which ride on tray portion 51. Threaded rod56 extends along tray portion 51 through nut 58 attached to ear 60 onthe underside of table 24. Bushing 62 defines the limit of travel oftable 24. Handle 32 connects to and is used to rotate rod 56 and thustranslate table 24. Or, threaded rod 56 may be driven by a motor.

For a mounting station 12 such as a remote operated small arms mount (a“mini-typhoon” available from General Dynamics and Rafael, for example),universal mount 70, FIGS. 13-14 may be provided. Universal mount 70,FIG. 14 includes central post 72 and pin 74. The top of table 24, FIG.15, in turn, includes central receiver socket 76 for universal mountpost 72, FIG. 14 and arcuate slot 78, FIG. 15 for pin 74, FIG. 14. Thisallows universal mount 70 to rotate with respect to sliding table 24 tothe limits defined by arcuate slot 78.

There may also be a locking mechanism for releasably fixing table 24,FIG. 16 with respect to tray portion 51 such as pin 80 in table 24 whichcan be manually pushed down into channel 82 in table portion 51. Pin 80can also be motor driven, by a solenoid, for example (not shown) up anddown to lock table 24 to tray portion 51. Tray portion 51 can be adheredto tray portion 22 itself glued to bracket 30, FIG. 17. Bracket 30 canbe bolted to tripod 15 using socket head cap screw 90 and/or bolts 92.The legs of tripod 14 can be bolted to the deck of the installation.

All of the components of the weapon mount described above can be made ofcorrosion resistant metals, composite materials, or a combination of thesame. Mounting station 12, FIGS. 8-9 can vary in design to includevarious gun mounts and also mounts for non-lethal weapons such as a longrange acoustic device (e.g., the “LRAD 500”, American Technology Corp.).Other sensors, warning devices, hailing devices, surveillance devices,and weapons are known to those skilled in the art. By strategicallylocating numerous such weapon mounts on a vessel, the vessel can befully protected. In any installation, and in any embodiment, the mountof the subject invention, whether fitted with a weapon and/or anon-lethal device, easily and quickly provides deployment and bettercoverage in a stable manner. The table which is translatable withrespect to the tray alternately can position the weapon or non-lethaldevice within the port provide protection and/or non-threatening postureand is enabled to deploy the weapon or non-lethal device through theport thus maintaining a protective capability.

Although specific features of the invention are shown in some drawingsand not in others, this is for convenience only as each feature may becombined with any or all of the other features in accordance with theinvention. The words “including”, “comprising”, “having”, and “with” asused herein are to be interpreted broadly and comprehensively and arenot limited to any physical interconnection. Moreover, any embodimentsdisclosed in the subject application are not to be taken as the onlypossible embodiments. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled inthe art and are within the following claims.

In addition, any amendment presented during the prosecution of thepatent application for this patent is not a disclaimer of any claimelement presented in the application as filed: those skilled in the artcannot reasonably be expected to draft a claim that would literallyencompass all possible equivalents, many equivalents will beunforeseeable at the time of the amendment and are beyond a fairinterpretation of what is to be surrendered (if anything), the rationaleunderlying the amendment may bear no more than a tangential relation tomany equivalents, and/or there are many other reasons the applicant cannot be expected to describe certain insubstantial substitutes for anyclaim element amended.

1. A mount system comprising: a tray mountable to a port; a tabletranslatable with respect to the tray; a mounting station positioned onthe table; a support for the tray; and a drive mechanism for translatingthe table to alternately conceal the mounting station within the portand to deploy the mounting station through the port.
 2. The mount systemof claim 1 in which the tray includes at least one rail and the tablerides on the rail.
 3. The mount system of claim 2 in which the trayincludes a pair of spaced rails and the table includes shoes whichengage the rails.
 4. The mount system of claim 1 in which the drivemechanism includes a threaded rod extending along the tray and the tableincludes a nut engaging the threaded rod.
 5. The mount system of claim 4in which the nut is positioned on an underside of the table.
 6. Themount system of claim 4 further including a handle for rotating thethreaded rod.
 7. The mount system of claim 1 in which the mountingstation includes a remote operated small arms mount.
 8. The mount systemof claim 1 in which the support includes a tripod.
 9. The mount systemof claim 8 in which the support further includes a spacer structurebetween the tripod and the tray.
 10. The mount system of claim 1 furtherincluding at least one bracket for mounting the tray to a sill of theport.
 11. The mount system of claim 1 further including a lockingmechanism for fixing the table with respect to the tray in the deployedposition.
 12. The mount system of claim 11 in which the lockingmechanism includes a pin in the table releasably received in a channelin the tray.
 13. The mount system of claim 1 further including auniversal mount between the mounting station and the table.
 14. Themount system of claim 13 in which the universal mount includes a postand a pin and the table includes a receiver socket for the post and aslot for the pin.
 15. A mount system comprising: a tray mountable to aport and including at least one rail; a table mounted to translate alongthe rail; a mounting station positioned on the table; a support for thetray; a bracket for mounting the tray to a sill of the port; a drivemechanism for translating the table along the rail to alternatelyconceal the mounting station within the port and to deploy the mountingstation through the port; and a locking mechanism for releasably lockingthe table with respect to the tray.
 16. The mount system of claim 15 inwhich the tray includes a pair of spaced rails and the table includesshoes which engage the rails.
 17. The mount system of claim 15 in whichthe drive mechanism includes a threaded rod extending along the tray andthe table includes a nut engaging the threaded rod.
 18. The mount systemof claim 17 in which the nut is positioned on an underside of the table.19. The mount system of claim 17 further including a handle for rotatingthe threaded rod.
 20. The mount system of claim 15 in which the mountingstation includes a remote operated small arms mount.
 21. The mountsystem of claim 15 in which the support includes a tripod.
 22. The mountsystem of claim 21 in which the support further includes a spacerstructure between the tripod and the tray.
 23. The mount system of claim15 in which the locking mechanism includes a pin in the table releasablyreceived in a channel in the tray.
 24. The mount system of claim 15further including a universal mount between the mounting station and thetable.
 25. The mount system of claim 24 in which the universal mountincludes a post and a pin and the table includes a receiver socket forthe post and a slot for the pin.